Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-03-12

AN I%NCENDIARY.
"Look out, boysl" cried the s,dpper.
I'VE must be getting near shore. Hold ON
70 tho tller, Jeanl Fasten that roma.
Pierre"
Over tho roughening SEA the hshing bark
was rushing like a fash. The evening be.
Tore they had started In splendid weather,
before q southwest breeze that barely wrin-
kled the surface Of q sea flashing like sill
YER beneath the sun. But only . little
while before old Landure, the skipper, had
stopped with an anxious expression Of coun.
tenance as he passed by the lookout. In lesa
than an hour the barometer, whose column
OF mercury scintillated before the door, had
lowered more than an inch. The old man
had looked at it for . moment-thinking.
Then he had looked up t the sky, scented
the wind, and finally shrugged his shoulders.
A storm coming with such weather a. that
couldn't be possible. He would certainly
have been able to feel 1t coming-why,
hadn't he always been able to tell two days
before a storm was comingi And that day,
be couldn't feel anything unusual in the
atmosphere. The barometer must be goina
crazy.
That was why old Landure had started
out with his two boys, Pierre and Jean.
His own boys? No. Old Landure bad
but one child-a daughter; Marie, the pearl
Of the coast, . superb girl Of twenty,
strong and graceful, with black eyes soft a
velvet, and q skin like the skin Of q rip<
peach. Pierre and Jean were only two
seafaring lads Of the coast-powerful fell.
lows both, and heavy workers, who knew
their business well, and whom he had en-.
gagged a year before to man his fishing YES.
sell and help in the fishing. Everything had
gone well with him since he engaged them.
The only question between them seemed Il
be as to which could put most heart into hi
work. Two rivals, indeed, in that! Hal haI
the old skipper well knew what tho motive
of all that zeal was. The two young ras.
Gals were both after his daughter-that wa
dead certain. And it was q struggle be
tween them which could best merit his good
graces, so as to be received as . son-in-law.
What did that matteri Old Landure felt
quite secure as to the result. His girl had
plenty of sense; her mind was just a
healthy as her body. She could make heI
own choice as soon as she pleased, and that
would settle the question.
Perhaps, too, it were better for her MOI
to delay too long about it For to have to
wait that way WASH, just the best thing
for two young fellows as hotly in love a
they were. For moro than a month old
Landure had been noticing an exchange Of
wicked looks between them. The evil glances
were especially frequent on the part Of
Jean-a quicker tempered fellow than Pierre;
more in love also than Pierre, perhaps, but
more underhand by far. Still, all that
could be settled nicely later on, ehf-on the
wedding day; and the Tilted one would be
able 70 console himself with q double ration
of cider. It wouldn't be the first time the
old man had seen such a disappointment
well drowned in j~ollification; and then,
there were handsome girls in plenty all along
the coast.
hard that afternoon-and very silently.
But all of a sudden, about 4 O'Clock, the
wind had freshened.
"Hello, boysi what's this mean1" Old
Landure had looked up, shaded his eye
with his hand, and watched the horizon.
Far off, at the very verge, . black cloud
was rushing toward them.
"Loose everything!' shouted the skipper,
land head for land"
And they had done their best to hurry.
But all at once the wind had veered-blow.
ing the bark out to sea again. Gods judg'
ment dayl What a storm it blewi Nevar
had the WI boys, o even old Landure,
aged as he was, seen the like. It seemed al
if one of those devilish whirlwinds, which
those who had sailed in tropical waters used
to tell about-one of those frightful cyclones
which hem in a ship with a circle of frsn'
ziei storm winds-had lost its way and .
dered by mistake into the neighborhood Of
the Breton coast. Every -half-hour the wind
would shift, and the bewildered vessel be
whirled round, to start of again in some
new and unknown direction, over q heavins
of waves bigger than q house. How she
failed to go down was a mystery; the
chances against her were twenty to one.
Lordl but her ribs must have been solidly
put togetherl But stoutly built AZ she was,
she kept rolling from wave to wave, plung'
ing, rising as if by a miracle, Jared, but
feted, pitched and tossed, yet always run
ming ahead at a devil of a speed.
Where was she going now7 The three
sailors themselves could not have answered
that question to save their lives. Night
had fallen-a night 50 black that you
couldn't have seen anything ten boat lengths
ahead. At one moment they had caught q
glimpse of the Belle Isle light. Now they
could not distinguish anything. All about
them was the horror Of darkness and the
roaring of the wind through the rigging.
s'Skipper," Pierre suddenly shouted,
1.-THE lanterns Quit"
''Try to light it below, and take care you
don't set fire to No! never mind!' he
continued, reconsidering, I'll 60 below
myself"
And letting 60 bis hold Of the mast te
which he had been cltnging the old seaman
made two steps toward the door Of the
cabin.
But at that very instant a heavy sea
was u~noccupied'
bad lucki-the masters overboardr'
shouted Pierre.
Hes gone up!'' cried Jean, still crouch
ing over the tiller.
The two men leaned out, s~cr1ltinizing the
darkness with dilated eyes. They could SCI
nothing.
.sThunderationw cried Pierre, "what's
Marie going to say?"
"Devilish small chance we'll ever know
answered Jean.
"Why?"
"Because we're going to get left, too"
"You think"
"The dcvil!-what chance is thereS"
81 don't know"
swell, I knowl And I know something
else, too"
"What's that?"
"This!-if the boat pulls through, shs
isn't going to bring more than one Of u
ashore.
"Why?
"Because of Marie"
"Going crazy, Jeani"
"No, 1 amt going crazyl There's one toe
many right here-and you know It. Thi.
IS a good chance. If you're not a cowardly
dog, you'll take advantage of it."
"How2'
"One Of US two's got to 60 after old Land
ure."
"Which one?"